


What's a Wedding Without a Murder?

by The_Consulting_Werewolf



Series: The Krisho Whodunit Files [2]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Character Death, M/M, Murder Mystery, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-27
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-18 05:49:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16112144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Consulting_Werewolf/pseuds/The_Consulting_Werewolf
Summary: Junmyeon is going to marry Yifan, the love of his life, till his "dead" husband shows up at the wedding.





	1. Surprise?

**Author's Note:**

> A proper Krisho murder mystery au, yay! This is largely inspired by another British crime show I had been bingeing on called Agatha Raisin. Enjoy!

The tall man staggers down the narrow lane, trying to place where his apartment is. At night, the ground floor flats all end up looking the same. He is drunk, and hasn’t been home for the last two days, drinking his money away. He is only coming back to get some more money; he wants to go to the dog race tonight and he wants to win, otherwise he won’t be able to make rent next month. He finally finds his home and slides the key in after four tries. He steps on something crunchy as he steps inside and looks down to see a stack of newspapers under his foot. He does have a roommate, who comes and goes as he likes, doing odd jobs all around the city, and he thinks the roommate is to blame for the newspapers lying right at the entrance.

The smell of unwashed dishes hits the man first, but he ignores it because a particular headline in one of the newspaper catches his eyes. The article is on the gossip section of a popular tabloid and he smirks when he reads the article and looks at the picture attached. Fourteen years and Kim Junmyeon hasn’t changed that much. He supposes he can skip the dog race to make next month’s rent.

_PR King Kim Junmyeon set to marry beau in the charming small town of Pocheon!_

Today is the happiest day of Kim Junmyeon’s life. He is going to get married to the love of his life and he hasn’t been able to stop smiling since he woke up. His good mood is obviously noticed by his best friends, Yixing, Jongdae, and Yuri, who find Junmyeon in Jongdae’s kitchen smiling down at his cup of green tea. Yuri comments, “Gosh, look at you, I haven’t seen you this happy since you demolished that baseball player’s career.”

Junmyeon, far away in a city called Seoul, used to be the best PR agent and still takes freelance jobs that Yuri throws his way, and he was known to be nasty, but that is all in the past. He is thirty three now and nothing has made him happier than meeting Wu Yifan, ex-army man and all sorts of wonderful. Thus, when he hears what Yuri says, he turns to her, same dopey smile on his face as he replies, “I am, yes. I finally found the one Yuri.”

Yifan and he didn’t date for too long, but they didn’t need it. Two months were enough to let Junmyeon know he had found the one. He has been single, most his life, and meeting Yifan was just…magic. If you disregard the fact that Junmyeon accused Yifan’s sister of murder, but Junmyeon’s guess was just a smidgen wrong. It was the sister’s friend, but eh, close enough.

Oh, yes, about murder, he solves murder in his free time in the small town of Pocheon. He moved here a year ago and befriended Jongdae first, a cleaner, and his son, Jeno. Jongdae is as curious as Junmyeon is and sometimes helps him solve crimes too. Then, there was Detective Constable Huang Zitao, and Junmyeon naturally met him when the townspeople started complaining about the “annoying city man” asking too many questions. Yixing, the vicar’s husband, was also accused of murder by Junmyeon and of course, that’s how they became friends as well. And Junmyeon has known Yuri all his professional life.

Yifan and Junmyeon’s love story hasn’t been smooth-sailing, especially when Yifan started dating that obnoxious man, and Junmyeon knows one mustn’t speak ill of the dead (and he did solve that crime as well). But that was in the past, and this is now, and he is going to walk down the aisle to marry the love of his life and nothing can ruin it. _Nothing._

 

Yixing waits outside the church, ushering the guests in. He catches Taekwoon’s eye, who sends him an encouraging smile. Yixing blows him a kiss and turns to welcoming the guests. A man walks up the path and Yixing struggles to remember his name. Their small town saw two newcomers move in the last few weeks. One moved into the old house by the defunct water mill and the other moved into Junmyeon’s old cottage.

Yixing finally remembers the name by the time the man reaches him. “Ah Jongin-sshi, morning!”

Jongin smiles, putting his gift bag down as he takes Yixing’s extended hand to shake. “Morning! A rather nice day for a wedding, isn’t it?”

“It is,” Yixing says. They can’t chat for any longer since more people are coming by. The other newcomer, Luhan, too makes his way inside.

 

Yifan tugs at his cuff and takes a deep breath. He is going to marry Junmyeon today, and he is equal parts happy and nervous. He has been a bachelor his whole life, he knows Junmyeon was married once upon a time, but this is his first rodeo and it is nerve-wracking. Considering how different they are—Junmyeon, the glamorous city man, and he, just an ex-army man taken to farming. On the surface, everyone can tell they wouldn’t match but even though the first time he met Junmyeon was when the latter was accusing his sister of murder over the fence between their houses, he couldn’t forget about him.

It wasn’t love at first sight, or even second sight, but the more he was roped into the mad plans Junmyeon concocted to solve crimes, the more he realised he had started to fall for the brilliant, quirky man. Even his sister, still smarting from those false accusations, approved of them, which shocked Junmyeon to no end.

Yifan smiles a little as his heart warms with fondness. The door to his bedroom opens and Yifan turns around to find Minseok in a beige tuxedo, grinning at him. The man says, “Look at you, the eternal bachelor finally settling down!”

“Shut up,” Yifan grumbles but he can’t fight the warmth creeping on to his face. He looks at the mirror and Minseok joins him, that annoying grin still in place and grabs Yifan’s shoulder, squeezing them lightly. Yifan murmurs, “Thanks for being my best man.”

Minseok chuckles, “I am honoured!”

Soon, the hours pass and suddenly, the church is filled with people, their neighbours and friends. The vicar, Taekwoon, enters and Minseok rushes down the corridor to get both Junmyeon and Yifan from their respective rooms. They are going to walk down together, and both grooms meet at the entrance; and when they see each other after a whole day, it is staggering. Yifan has to bite back the urge to kiss Junmyeon, who looks so good in his black tuxedo. Junmyeon reaches for Yifan’s hand and the latter laces their fingers, squeezing them, just smiling. Junmyeon smiles back and no words are exchanged but their excitement is palpable.

The organ starts playing as they walk up the aisle, elbows locked and they can’t look away from each other. Junmyeon breaks out into a huge grin, unable to help himself and Yifan inhales deeply at that smile and flushed cheeks. Somewhere in the pews, Jongdae shouts, “Start walking faster you two! We don’t have all day!”

Laughter breaks out and Junmyeon knows his face is probably red as hell, but they do make their way where Taekwoon awaits them. The vicar smiles at them and puts on his glasses. The ceremony begins in earnest. Junmyeon is impatient and wants Taekwoon to finish already so he can kiss Yifan and get on that plane to Cyprus for their honeymoon.

Taekwoon is winding down, he is reading from the notebook in front of him, “If anyone has any objections to their union—”

“Wait!”

Junmyeon gasps and Yifan is ready to fight whoever it is, but they find Zitao running down the aisle with a giant gift box. The young DC skids to a halt and shouts, “I can’t let this go on!”

Junmyeon groans, “Oh, Zitao, come on! I know you had a crush on me but this is ridiculous!” Jongdae bristles at that—he knows about Zitao’s helpless crush on Junmyeon but this is a bit too much. He turns to glare at Zitao as well and so does Jeno, who grumbles, “What is he up to this time dad?”

Zitao shakes his head, “No, no, it’s not about me.”

Then, a tall man, dressed largely inappropriate for a wedding, enters the church and Junmyeon feels the floor slipping beneath his feet. Yifan asks, “Who is that?”

Zitao answers, trying to hold on to the wedding gift that keeps slipping, “That is Junmyeon’s husband.”

Yifan widens his eyes, his breath catching as he whips his head to look at Junmyeon, who he finds staring, aghast, at the man standing behind Zitao. He hears Junmyeon whisper, “Sehun, what the fuck…”

Yifan rubs his face and glares at Junmyeon. “I thought you said he was dead!”

“He, he was,” Junmyeon stammers as he turns to Yifan, his hands reaching for him. His heart breaks when Yifan steps back, his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth turned down into a sneer.

“I am not dead, love,” Sehun says, pushing his hands into his jeans. “Never quite got through that divorce now, did we?”

Junmyeon feels like fainting.


	2. Mornings With a Side of Murder

Sehun leans against a grave marker and smirks up at the three people glaring at him at various levels of hostility. The groom, Yifan, definitely holds the most vitriol in his gaze, probably wishing Sehun drops dead by his glare alone. The other man, who is the best man, Minseok, is largely confused but keeps frowning nevertheless. And lastly, there is Yuri, who is chewing her nail and boring holes into Sehun’s skull.

Minseok starts, “How much money do you want?”

Sehun has been upfront about what he wants; he needs money and after Yuri asked, he has agreed to a quick divorce instantly. Sehun straightens up and grins, “For the emotional distress and bus fare? Seventy thousand won…” Minseok pulls out his wallet, probably to check if he is carrying his ATM card or not, “…Each.”

Yuri growls but nods her head. “Fine, we pay and you fucking disappear from our lives.”

Sehun raises his hands and nods his head, “I will, no worries.”

They put Sehun under Zitao’s watch as they go to the nearest ATM to get the cash. They return soon after and hand the cash over to the man, who grins, counts them and whistles away as he leaves. Yifan turns to look at Minseok and says, “Thanks, you didn’t need to—”

“Nonsense,” Minseok claps Yifan on his shoulder, “Junmyeon helped me from getting sent to jail, I owed him.”

They return to find Junmyeon huddled by the back of the church with Jongdae and Yixing—and Jeno, on his father’s lap (the ten-year-old doesn’t like being away from where the interesting things are happening). Junmyeon asks, “What happened?”

Yuri crosses her arms and says, “He has agreed to a quick divorce.”

Junmyeon sighs and his shoulders sag in relief. Honestly, he did think Sehun was dead after he went missing fourteen years ago. He married that man when he was only eighteen—in his defence, he didn’t know what he was doing. He didn’t know about Sehun’s drinking problems and he let that handsome face get him to make terrible decisions. So, when Sehun went missing, Junmyeon saw it as a sign to move on and change his life. He hadn’t thought about Sehun in _years_.

Minseok puts his hands on his waist and adds, “Also, Taekwoon said not to worry, we can do this tomorrow as well.”

Junmyeon face clears up further but then Yifan’s voice booms, “No, we are not doing this tomorrow.”

Yixing, seated behind Junmyeon, perks up, “What do you mean by that?”

Yifan licks his lips and sighs, turning his gaze towards Junmyeon, “I can’t marry you anymore Junmyeon. I can’t, you lied to me.”

“No, I genuinely—” Junmyeon reaches for Yifan again, but this time too, Yifan steps back and he feels tears welling in his eyes. He knows he can’t convince Yifan, and Yifan, right now, looks as broken as he feels inside. Then, without saying another word, Yifan turns around and leaves. Minseok clicks his tongue and squeezes Junmyeon’s forearm as he says, “I will try to talk to him.”

Yixing shouts, “Tell him he’s being silly!”

Jongdae adds, “An absolute imbecile!”

Jeno wiggles down his father’s lap and goes ahead to kick Zitao in the shin. When the older man yelps in pain, Jeno jumps right back into his father’s lap with a smug grin on his face. Zitao asks, “What the hel-heck was that for?”

Jeno points at Zitao and says, “You brought the bad man to the wedding!”

Zitao scrunches his face and looks like he is about to cry when Junmyeon shakes his head and says, “No, it is not Zitao’s fault. It’s mine. I should have tried harder to know what happened to Sehun all those years ago. This is what terrible foresight leads to.” Zitao wants to say something, apologise, but Junmyeon simply shakes his head again. Apologies are not going help him.

Jongdae puts Jeno down and pulls Junmyeon in his arms, tucking him in under his chin. Junmyeon takes a few deep breaths, trying hard to not crumble and fall apart…

…which he does anyway a few hours later in the privacy of Jongdae’s guest room—previously occupied by Jeno—under the stick-on glow in the dark stickers and a dinosaur plushie pressed to his chest. The door opens a little and Jeno pops his head in. He calls out, “Jun? Can I come in?” When Junmyeon grunts a yes, Jeno carefully walks inside. Junmyeon sits up and moves to the side to let Jeno get on the bed.

Jeno hops on and hands Junmyeon a box of tissues. He says, “Here, I brought you some extra if you need it.”

Junmyeon pulls out some tissues and wipes his face with it, not forgetting to blow his nose. He smiles down at the boy, “Thank you.”

The door parts some more to Jongdae stepping inside the room with a plate of cake in hand. He tilts his head to the side and looks at his friend, a sobbing mess on the bed. He says, his voice soft, “Didn’t think it was okay to waste that good wedding cake.”

Junmyeon juts his lower lip out and nods, “It was an expensive cake.”

Thus, Kim Junmyeon, who thought today was going to be the best day of his life, spends it by eating his wedding cake with his friend in his pyjamas and tears running down his face that Jeno gently dabs away periodically with a tissue.

 

Minseok finds Yifan in the new house the latter bought, thinking he would move into the house as a married couple with Junmyeon. The lights on the kitchen are on and Minseok knocks on the glass of the backdoor. Yifan is startled but he looks behind to see Minseok and gets up from the counter to open the door. Minseok strolls in and makes a disapproving noise at the bottle of scotch on the counter and the half-empty glass. He admonishes, “Yifan, this is not the way to handle things, you know.”

Yifan groans and flops down on the seat. He grabs at the roots of his hair and says, “I know Junmyeon is difficult, but I wanted him to be my own personal nightmare. I love him, gosh darn, I do Minseok! But to learn that he hid the fact that he never ended that marriage just…”

Minseok sits down opposite Yifan and shakes his head. “He didn’t know that Sehun was even alive. Cut Junmyeon some slack, okay? I know he can get mean and develop a one-track mind when he is after something, but we all know he is essentially a good person. He wouldn’t hurt you like this.”

“I know, I know, he wouldn’t!” Yifan slumps down further in his chair. He taps the countertop and says, “The first time I kissed him…I kissed him because he was crying over mister Jeon’s belongings, crying over his death and how he never even knew the old man’s first name…” Yifan groans again and rubs his face.

“You know what your problem is?” Minseok says; Yifan shoots him an incredulous look, “You have been alone for so long that you keep looking for excuses to remain so.” Before Yifan can retaliate, Minseok gets to his feet, stretches and looks down at Yifan with the most condescending face, “Good night, and fucking sort yourself out.” He leaves before Yifan can formulate a proper reply.

 

Just because Junmyeon is sad and his wedding was rudely interrupted by his _former_ husband, doesn’t mean he has to skip on his morning routine of cycling by the stream. He rather likes this exercise; the morning air is fresh and cool and the scenery is something he is not yet tired of, so he doesn’t mind it one bit. Also, he thinks some fresh air might be good for him and help him get over the fact that Yifan might never even want to look at him again.

He zips his windbreaker on and grabs his helmet. He starts his route from Jongdae’s apartment and as he cycles down the road, he realises his old house is on the way—so is the new house he brought with Yifan on the same block. He rides by it and to his surprise, finds the new owner hanging out washing.

Junmyeon stops and looks up at his old cottage with much sadness. The new owner, Luhan notices him and waves at him, “Hi there!”

Junmyeon waves back timidly, feeling like he got caught stealing or something. He comes closer and says, “You won’t be changing your mind of returning to the city anytime, would you?” He sounds wistful, he knows, but right now, the decision to sell off his house like that seems like such a stupid, rash idea.

Luhan isn’t sure if Junmyeon is joking or not, so his face settles into an uncomfortable, lopsided grin, “No, not really. I like the air around here and the feeling of community.” Then he awkwardly chuckles and wipes his hands down his jeans, “One gets too lonely at the city at times.”

Junmyeon pulls a face but he nods, understanding Luhan’s point of view only too well. He moved from Seoul to escape into the tranquillity of this small town as well. Junmyeon wishes him a good morning and goes on his way, down his favourite route. However, he takes the road beside the house he never got the chance to move into and finds the windows to the kitchen wide open. Yifan strolls in, yawning and Junmyeon picks up his speed and races off. He knows Yifan doesn’t want to see his face yet and he is going to give the other man all the space he needs.

He turns towards the mountain, towards the path that runs down its foot and curves with the stream. His legs pump faster and harder when he remembers the look on Yifan’s face yesterday. He knew Yifan was unwilling to step into a relationship and he did anyway with Junmyeon because he loved him and the mess he was. Junmyeon knows he has issues but Yifan was ready to live with all of them and his moody tomcat Hopkins (his poor cat is staying with Yixing and Taekwoon, completely oblivious to the tragedy his humans are having).

Junmyeon is so lost in his own head that he doesn’t see the figure staggering towards him. He looks up when he hears someone call his name. He brakes right on time and looks up to find a very intoxicated Sehun making his way towards him. His heart drops to his stomach and his grip on the cycle handlebars tighten as he asks, “What, what are you doing here?”

Sehun grins, “Here? Where am I?” The smell of soju is overpowering and Junmyeon recoils as Sehun’s speech slurs, “Oh right.” He inches closer and grabs the handlebars. “I need some money.”

Junmyeon frowns, “I thought Yuri gave you cash.”

“I spent all of it, I need to leave,” he shakes the cycle and Junmyeon almost topples over but he steadies himself in time by putting his foot down.

Junmyeon feels the tendrils of panic slowly wrapping around him. He braves a look at Sehun and notes his bloodshot eyes and stubble. He hasn’t seen Sehun in years and some sort of nostalgia fills him up and he almost feels sorry for never trying to learn about Sehun. He tries to push Sehun off and says, his voice weak and shaking, “Please, Sehun, I don’t have money on me right now.”

“Liar!” Sehun screams. “I know you have money, lots of it! Give me!”

Junmyeon snaps, he has been on edge since yesterday since Sehun’s reappearance, and he was hoping they could talk like civilised people but that just flew out of the window. He growls, “Fuck off Sehun!” He then pushes Sehun off and the latter stumbles back, his foot catches on a branch and falls down. He rolls down the small embankment and stops right before his head hits the stream. Junmyeon watches his descent but doesn’t stay long enough for Sehun to regain his senses and instead, pushes harder on the pedal and rushes out of there.

From the top of the hill, Luhan sees the entire thing unfolding and gasps out loud when Sehun disappears down the embankment.

 

Two calls are made to the station: one, from a local man taking his dog out for a walk and two, from a resident who had seen a fight. And surprisingly, the calls come in one after the another and it describes the same place and description of person. Thus, Detective Inspector Park Chanyeol grabs his DC Huang and pushes him into his car. Before Huang can ask what’s going on, Chanyeol drives the car down the main street and skids to a sudden stop when he finds Junmyeon and Yuri enjoying their late breakfast at a food stall.

Chanyeol bounds from the car, Zitao on his heels, still utterly confused, and the DI points at Junmyeon and shouts, “Kim Junmyeon, I am arresting you on the charge of manslaughter!”

Yuri gets to her feet and asks, “What the fuck are you even talking about?”

Chanyeol explains, “A mister Oh Sehun was found dead by the stream this morning and we have eyewitness account of you being involved in fisticuffs with the victim!”

Junmyeon gasps as he slowly gets to his feet. Fear trickles down his spine like someone dropped an ice cube down his shirt. He mumbles, “I did, I did push him, but—”

Yuri snaps her fingers and cries, “Oh god Junmyeon, shut up! We are not doing this without a lawyer!”

Junmyeon clutches at his hair and mumbles, tears running down his face, “I didn’t go back to check if he was okay or not…”

Yuri doesn’t let Junmyeon finish the sentence by clapping her hand over his mouth. However, Chanyeol and Zitao still arrest Junmyeon and drag him off to jail. Junmyeon gets booked as Yuri promises to get him the best lawyer. Junmyeon is escorted to the holding cell by a very sheepish looking Zitao but he pats the younger man’s head and shakes his head.

Junmyeon sits down on the lone bench in the cell and almost dozes off, but suddenly the door opens again and to his surprise, a policeman pushes Yifan into the room. Yifan notices Junmyeon’s presence in the room and his widen in surprise as well. Junmyeon also notices that Yifan is barefoot and he is carrying his polished tan Oxfords in his hands.

Yifan flops down beside Junmyeon and says, “Let me guess, they brought you here because of Sehun?”

“Yes,” Junmyeon sighs. He bites his lips as he throws his best puppy eyes at Yifan. “I swear it was an accident! I only pushed him down the embankment! I never meant to kill him!”

Yifan throws Junmyeon a confused look. “Fell down? Didn’t they tell you?”

“Tell me what?” Junmyeon looks back, just as confused.

“Sehun was asphyxiated under water. And they found dress shoe prints in the mud,” he waves his shoes, “That’s why I am here.”

Junmyeon’s eyes widen; okay, he knows he didn’t do _that._ So, Sehun was murdered. He gapes at Yifan for some time before realising that Yifan is dressed in his white shirt, jeans and even has his expensive watch on—his uniform for his casual outing about town. He asks, “Going somewhere?”

“I, uh,” Yifan cleared his throat. “I was heading for the airport. I can’t let the tickets go to waste, so I preponed them.”

Junmyeon gulps; feeling guilty, angry and helpless all at the same time. Yifan is gazing at a particular corner of the ceiling like it is the most interesting thing on earth and that too, further breaks Junmyeon’s heart.

 

Someone posts bail for Yifan and Junmyeon, and they come out to learn it is Minseok. The man takes them both home but Junmyeon, from one look at Yifan’s hardened jaw, asks to be dropped off at Jongdae’s place. Minseok doesn’t say anything but his disappointment is felt throughout the car, rolling out of him in waves.

Junmyeon waves Minseok and Yifan off and rushes inside to find Jongdae folding laundry. He tells Jongdae about Sehun and when he is done, he says, “I know how to get back with Yifan!”

Jongdae is wary; he can see the unholy gleam in Junmyeon’s eyes, the same gleam that shows up when Junmyeon has a nefarious plan to catch the bad guys. He folds and unfolds a sock as he asks, “And what would that be?”

Junmyeon loudly proclaims, “I am going to catch the guy who killed Sehun!”

Jongdae just palms his face and sighs.


	3. Blackmailing is Not a Recommended Sport

The first thing Junmyeon does after a nice, warm shower is call Yuri up. Yuri had headed back to Seoul after his arrest, and she is officially the one who does most of the research and legwork when Junmyeon needs it. Junmyeon keeps saying Yuri has to do all of it as a way of payback for all the freelancing she forces him to do. But, both Yuri and Junmyeon know that the woman loves the detective work just as much Junmyeon does.

Thus, Yuri is tasked to find about Sehun’s whereabouts and activities in Seoul before his death. And Yuri sets out to find as much information as she can. Having friends in the police and press helps tremendously, so she starts there. She learns about Sehun’s apartment and decides to head there.

The area Sehun chose to live in wasn’t that great and Yuri knew she was making quite the spectacle in her Prada jacket and Louboutin boots, but she tucks her head and hopes no one bothers her too much. She is carrying her taser but she rather not use it on anyone, thank you very much. She wades her way through garbage, a few stray cats and cardboard boxes till she finds Sehun’s apartment. She rings the doorbell and the door is opened by a man with a pink hair and a boxy smile. He says, “Yes?”

“Uh,” Yuri tilts her head to the side. “Are you Baekhyun, Byun Baekhyun? Sehun’s roommate?”

The man nods, his eyes glued on the branded jacket. Yuri can almost hear what is going through his head; she takes a step back and says, “Have you heard about Sehun’s unfortunate accident?”

“Of Sehun’s death? Yeah,” Baekhyun nods his head. “You here for his things? I heard he had a rich husband, not a wife.”

“I am not his wife, oh god please, no,” Yuri waves her hand, vehemently shaking her head. “I just wanted to get some information about him.”

Baekhyun seems like a talker as soon as Yuri lets him know she is a private detective, and lets Yuri know that Sehun was in and out of multiple rehabs for some time and he knew someone named Gu Qingpei, apparently they were close. On pressing for some more, Baekhyun told Yuri that he thought, and this was just his speculation, that Sehun might have blackmailed people when he was alive. Yuri thanks Baekhyun, who splays his hand out, his brows dancing in expectation. Yuri groans but presses some money in exchange for the information and power walks back to her car, which, thankfully, hasn’t been stolen.

She calls Junmyeon as soon as possible and relays all that she learnt from Baekhyun to him. She informs him, “Ask your cop friend to find out which rehabs he went too, and if he did indeed blackmail people.”

Junmyeon replies, “I will.”

Back at Pocheon, Junmyeon gets out of his pyjamas and into a red sweater over light acid-washed jeans and a leather jacket. Yeah, he didn’t get to marry but he still has to maintain his reputation as the best-dressed man in town after all. He skips taking his car and hopes to get a taxi on the way; he could have called Zitao but he needs this information _now_ , so he cannot wait for the DC to get back to him later.

As he reaches the main market street, he finds Yifan stepping out of the grocery. Junmyeon can’t really run away since Yifan has already spotted him and it would make things ten times more awkward if he did start to run now. Plus, Yifan looks like a mess—his hair is uncombed, his dark bangs fall over his eyes and he is wearing his old army sweatshirt outside, which he never does, and _are those slides on his feet_? Junmyeon mentally grimaces.

Junmyeon walks up to him, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets. Yifan is the first to speak, “Going somewhere?”

Junmyeon nods. “Just the police station, I need to talk to Zitao.”

Yifan frowns, “Don’t tell me…” Junmyeon widens his eyes and Yifan gulps when he recognises the gleam in his eyes. Junmyeon has found a _scent_ and he won’t let it rest till he solves this. Yifan sighs, “I am taking you to the station, come on.”

Junmyeon wants to refuse but a voice inside his head reminds him that Yifan is talking to him, willing to spend his time with Junmyeon and he mustn’t let this pass him by. So, he nods and follows Yifan back to the car. Junmyeon tells Yifan what he learnt from Yuri and when Yifan starts asking questions, Junmyeon knows he has the man hooked. Well, this was part of his plan all along…

They enter the station together and Zitao sees them immediately and groans. He too can see the way Junmyeon’s eyes shine and how rigidly Yifan’s jaw is set. The detective couple is back in action and about to wreak havoc in Zitao’s life. Sometimes, Zitao wishes he never met Junmyeon. But then again, Junmyeon has helped them solve plenty of crimes, and in a way, the whole station is indebted (DI Park Chanyeol holds so many grudges, so many…).

Zitao nods his head towards the cafeteria and sighs when he sits down, “Don’t even try, what do you want?”

Junmyeon grins as sits down, Yifan following suit, “So, Sehun had been in and out of rehabs for years, can we get a list?”

Zitao sighs again and rubs his face. He is going to get into so much trouble with Chanyeol later, but he already has the list on hand since he himself was looking into that, and getting Junmyeon involved might just help them solve this sooner. He hands Junmyeon the list and the latter gets to his feet immediately. Yifan sends Zitao a nod and half a smile, obviously understanding the younger man’s state of mind. He asks, “You going to the townhall tomorrow night?”

Zitao replies, “Yeah, I might drop by.”

Yifan leaves and finds Junmyeon standing against the hood of the car, eyes scanning over the paper Zitao gave to him. Yifan smiles when he sees the intense concentration on Junmyeon’s face—he always thought that it was kind of sexy: the furrowed brows, the small pout and the tongue that would eventually flick out to wet his lips. He shakes his head, no what is he even thinking of. He is not here to ogle at Junmyeon, his fluffy brown hair and his red sweater, or the way the jeans look _so good_ on him. He clears his throat and that makes Junmyeon look up, his almond-shaped eyes peering up at him through his bangs and Yifan nearly melts.

Junmyeon smiles as he waves the paper, “Look at this! He might have been around here before me!” When Yifan throws him a confused look, Junmyeon elaborates, “Here,” he points at a name on the paper, “This place is only a couple of miles away from here.”

“Let’s go,” Yifan says and unlocks the car. Junmyeon blinks, recalibrating himself to the fact that Yifan indeed wants to solve this mystery with him. Well, it is something, right? Perhaps, with time, Yifan might forgive him too. He keeps mum as he slides into the car and Yifan starts the engine.

 

The Hunter’s Lodge is a new, nouveau riche establishment, a celebrity rehab, and the architecture itself screams money. It is big, it is bulky and it has too much of red brick to take it seriously. Junmyeon raises an eyebrow and Yifan catches it; the latter comments, easily catching Junmyeon’s train of thought, “How did Sehun cough up the money to get here?”

“Remember the name Qingpei?” Junmyeon says. Yifan nods his head and Junmyeon continues, “What if he had something to do with it?”

Yifan frowns, “Who is this Qingpei?”

“Don’t worry, I have asked both Yuri and Zitao to look into it.”

They enter the establishment, their footsteps muffled by the carpet and Junmyeon might be gaping the tiniest bit at the rather luxurious interiors. There is even a proper chandelier hanging from the ceiling!

A voice asks, “Yes, can I help you?”

Junmyeon tears his gaze away from the chandelier towards the reception desk where a woman sits, looking at them with much suspicion. She has a large pink bow around her neck and her glasses look fake, but Junmyeon thinks she matches just fine with the whole place. He takes a step forward and Yifan winds a hand around his shoulder, and Junmyeon nearly yelps. He maintains his composure, however, as Yifan drags him towards the desk.

Junmyeon turns his head to look up at Yifan and the smile plastered on the taller man’s face is not pleasant at all. Yifan takes the lead and tells the woman, “I am here to ask about my friend here, he’s a raging, helpless alcoholic.” Junmyeon’s mouth drops but he scrambles to collect himself and throws the receptionist, whose name he reads as Tiffany, his best befuddled look.

Tiffany’s expression changes from one of doubt to of sympathy. She clicks her tongue and says, “Oh dear, we get those quite a lot.”

Yifan nods, sighing and Junmyeon can tell how uselessly dramatic that was. “I just want the best for my buddy here, you know. He lies, manipulates people, gets crazy ideas…just terrible.”

Junmyeon bites the inside of his cheek—so, this is how Yifan is taking his revenge. Okay, then. Junmyeon smiles down and waves his hands around the place, “I have heard great things about this place from my friend.”

Tiffany tilts her head. “Friend?”

“Yes, Sehun? Oh Sehun?” Junmyeon asks. “He said being here really helped him.” He touches his face and sighs, his eyebrows drooping, playing into the character.

“Oh, I don’t know him,” she pouts, but both Junmyeon and Yifan catch her looking to her side, at a room marked office. “He might have come here before my time.”

Junmyeon and Yifan share look and nothing is said verbally as they both get the same idea. Yifan releases Junmyeon and leans over the desk, flashing that smile that Junmyeon termed as “devilishly charming but I wouldn’t trust it”. It works on Tiffany, who blushes as she says, her voice slightly breathless, “Yes?”

“I was thinking, could you perhaps, show me around?” Yifan even tilts his head and blinks his eyes a couple of times (Junmyeon bites the urge to roll his eyes). Tiffany is about to say no, but Yifan is faster and drops his voice a few octaves, “Please?”

That does the trick and Tiffany bounds out of her seat. Yifan offers her his elbow and she blushes some more as she takes it. Junmyeon watches this exchange with narrowed eyes and a rising jealousy till he remembers that he is supposed to do something. He quickly ducks into the office, which is unlocked and it is more a glorified file cabinet than a proper office. Rows and rows of files fill the place and there is only one table. Junmyeon groans, he can’t go through everything, and Yifan might not be able to keep the woman distracted enough.

Junmyeon takes a deep breath and almost starts coughing when he inhales dust. His eyes water, but they also land on a log book of sorts. He pulls it out and finds the log book has entries going back to three years. Junmyeon grins, he is taking this then. He tucks it behind his back, pushing the leather jacket over it and comes outside. A minute later Tiffany and Yifan return, all giggling, and Junmyeon almost growls at Tiffany. He puts on a smile instead and pretends to be the picture of innocence. Yifan catches his eye and Junmyeon jerks his head, and Yifan gets it. He quickly extricates himself from Tiffany, who blushes still and hands him a pamphlet. Yifan says, “We will get back to you soon.”

“Of course, mister Wu!” Tiffany waves at Yifan and at Yifan only; Junmyeon feels mighty ignored, especially when he was the potential patient here.

They leave the rehab behind and before getting into the car, Junmyeon glances behind him and pulls out the ledger book. He waves it around, and says, “I have an idea.”

Yifan frowns; Junmyeon stole a ledger book _again_. He unlocks the car and grumbles, “And I am hungry.”

Thus, fifteen minutes later, Junmyeon and Yifan are in a charming roadside café, poring over the ledger book. Junmyeon has ordered for them both and their coffees arrive first as they find Sehun’s name in an entry during last one and a half years ago. Yifan frowns, “Seems like he was here before you arrived.”

Junmyeon pours some sugar into his flat white and nods. “But the question is, who sponsored him?”

Yifan rubs his chin. “Perhaps a NGO?”

Junmyeon also pours sugar into Yifan’s coffee, and is stirring the cup as he mulls over what Yifan said. Yifan, meanwhile, stares at Junmyeon and the fact that somehow over the duration, they have dragged their chairs closer and their knees are touching, and this close, Yifan can smell the cologne Junmyeon wears, and his heart thuds. Suddenly, Junmyeon jumps and says, “Hey! What if that Qingpei person was the sponsor?”

Yifan frowns, pulling the cup towards him. “What do you mean?”

Junmyeon licks his spoon and explains, tapping the ledger, “Look, do you see the people that checked in when Sehun was there?” Yifan reads some names, but he is still lost at sea. “Baekhyun, the roommate, told Yuri that Sehun used to blackmail people, right? What if he blackmailed his way into here and then used his stay here to blackmail some more?”

Yifan sips his drink and nods. “Perhaps, we can do a check on those people who were with Sehun around that time?”

Junmyeon nods, and his eyes are glittering, Yifan swears. Junmyeon too notes their proximity for the first time and he feels his face growing warm. His eyes flicker down to Yifan’s mouth and he realises how much he has missed kissing them. But then the waitress arrives with their food, and Junmyeon drags his gaze away. He clears his throat and says, “So, uh, maybe we should run the names through Yuri??”

“Yeah, we can,” Yifan answers. Silence descends on them and Junmyeon pouts as Yifan turns all his attention to his food. He sends a message to Yuri as Yifan builds back his walls and shuts him out again. It hurts and Junmyeon feels almost close to tears but he won’t cry in front of Yifan, who he knows is still struggling about accepting this messed up part of his life.

Lunch passes very silently but they are both eager to escape the awkwardness between them. They are headed back to the car when Yuri calls back. “Hey, Jun, guess what, this old dude and his wife, mister and misses Gong actually live pretty close to your town? Perhaps, they saw him and did him in?”

Junmyeon hums, “That could be possible. Send me their address.” Yuri sends him a message and he looks at Yifan, who had been gazing at him expectantly, “So, up for another field trip?”

“Yup, where to?”

Junmyeon gives him the address and they fall into more silence as Yifan drives. A few minutes later, Zitao calls Junmyeon and informs, “The name you gave me, Gu Qingpei? Yeah, hyung, I couldn’t find anything about him. His name does crop up in a few charity scandals where he took money from people and that money never made his way into the organisations Qingpei were apparently from.”

“That’s it? What about any personal information, like birthdate? Education? Sun sign? Sexual orientation?”

“Nothing. It’s like he’s a ghost. But, guess what?”

Junmyeon gets impatient and barks, “I don’t have time for that Zitao!”

“Okay, okay, sorry,” Zitao mumbles. “Sehun had a lot of stints in plenty of rehabs, and we checked his bank account. He had a steady flow of income one and a half years ago. It suddenly stopped about ten months ago.”

“Hmm,” Junmyeon rubs his lips as he looks out of the window. “Thanks Zitao!”

Yifan asks him what the DC called him about and Junmyeon tells him. When he is finished, Yifan says, “Maybe, Sehun and Qinpei were together on this con. Maybe, Sehun went into these rehabs and collected info about the rich and famous that they would pay to hide?”

“Possible,” Junmyeon nods. “You could be right, and maybe Sehun got desperate for money because Qingpei disappeared?” He grins at Yifan, “We make quite the team, aren’t we?”

Yifan laughs and almost agrees before he remembers their current circumstance. He quiets down and Junmyeon realises his faux pas and shuts up himself.

 

By the address sent by Yuri, Yifan drives just three miles away from the rehab and finds the house they are looking for. It’s an old country house with sloping roofs and whitewashed walls. Yifan and Junmyeon get down from the car and look up at the name painted on a board by the door. Junmyeon reads it, “Gong Minki, we are here.”

Yifan hums as he locks the car, “I have a feeling they won’t be too happy about us asking questions.”

Junmyeon clicks his tongue and grins, “But when are people any happy when we ask them questions?”

Yifan shakes his head, “That is entirely your fault and your fault alone.”

Junmyeon pouts and Yifan can’t help but smile back. If yesterday didn’t happen, this is almost like the many times Yifan had accompanied Junmyeon to places, just to keep an eye on the other (almost stabbed, getting hit on the head, kidnapped, etc. are some of the few things that has happened to Junmyeon while trying to solve mysteries).

Their moment is rudely interrupted by the main doors screeching open. Both men turn around to find an old man peering at them. Junmyeon dons his best PR-agent smile and says, “Mister Gong?”

“No, I am the head butler. Do you have an appointment?”

“No, but this is very, very important,” Junmyeon even takes to bat his eyelashes.

The man grunts but moves to the side. Yifan leaves the car outside and follows the butler. The house is old but is well-maintained and the small vegetable garden they pass through is pleasant and Junmyeon has a fleeting thought about the small backyard that came with the new house he got with Yifan. He gets upset at himself the next moment and forces himself to focus on the present.

The butler takes them into the main hall where they find an elderly couple sitting on the couch, wine glasses in their hands. The woman stands up first and smiles at the two men, “Hello? And who might you be?”

Junmyeon is still learning the provincial life, but Yifan is an expert on it, so he strides forward and extends his hand forward with a prize-winning smile and says, “Hello, I am  Wu Yifan, and this is Kim Junmyeon. I am actually doing a small survey.”

“Oh?” Mr Gong Minki gets to his feet and pours wine for both Yifan and Junmyeon. “About what?”

“My friend here,” Yifan starts and Junmyeon stiffens up, side-eyeing him. “Is a raging alcoholic,” Mr Gong plucks the glass from Junmyeon’s hand and the younger man just gapes, “And the closest rehab here, the Hunter’s Lodge was recommended to us by a friend, Oh Sehun. Perhaps, you know him? He talked about you too, said you went there together.”

Junmyeon notices how Mr Gong’s hand shakes at the mention of Sehun’s name. “Sehun? Never heard of him. And, I don’t understand, what exactly do you seek?”

Mrs Gong’s gaze sharpens as well at the mention of Sehun’s name and Junmyeon surmises that his former husband must have blackmailed these two, or just one of the spouses. Yifan smiles, raising his hands up in a surrendering pose, “I am just concerned for my friend here, you see, I do want the best for him.”

Mrs Gong fixes a stray strand of hair and says, “Well, we didn’t stay at the Lodge for too long. I had some anxiety issues and my husband here would visit me often. It is a nice place, you need not worry for your friend.”

Junmyeon and Yifan share a look; they have seen _both_ the Gongs signed into the Lodge, so why is Mrs Gong lying? But the steely gaze of Mr Gong is starting to bother Junmyeon and he gets to his feet, pulling Yifan along with him. He bows and says a hasty goodbye, dragging a confused Yifan behind him. When they are outside, Yifan asks, “Why did you drag us out of there?”

Junmyeon shakes his head as taps the hood of the car. “I think they are trying to cover something up and mister Gong was throwing daggers at us with his eyes. He wasn’t too happy to see us.”

“Neither was the wife,” Yifan adds, voice pensive as he clasps his hands on the roof of the car.

Suddenly, the door to the house screeches open again and Mr Gong steps out of it, pushing bullets into a shotgun. Yifan’s eyes widen as he sees the man, who looks up and starts shouting, “Leave you rascals before I empty this into your heads! That Sehun was a devil and so are you two!”

A moment passes and it takes a few seconds for them both to connect the scene in front of them to the adrenaline pumping through their veins. As soon as it passes, Junmyeon and Yifan dive into the car as quickly as they can and Yifan almost drops the key as Mr Gong takes aim. He starts the car and blindly reverses as Junmyeon screams, “You are going to hit a tree!”

Yifan brakes on time and sees he has enough room to turn, so turn he does and speeds off the driveway. A single shot is heard and Junmyeon curses as he looks over his shoulder, “Fucking hell!”

Yifan chuckles, a nervousness permeating through it as he says, “At least, we do know now that Sehun definitely blackmailed them.”

Junmyeon just sighs and throws his head back.


	4. Kim Minseok Can't Catch a Break

Yifan doesn’t invite Junmyeon in but it isn’t necessary since in a way this is his home too. Junmyeon did move some of his things here and was going to move the next few items later. Yifan watches Junmyeon make his way into the kitchen and grab the marker and start scribbling on the white board he insisted on buying.

Yifan watches Junmyeon write down the names of all the people involved in the murder; he starts preparing some tea, just in case. He gets the cups and looks over at the white board again and chuckles, “Shouldn’t you be putting my name on it too?”

Junmyeon turns around, lip jutting out as he shakes his head, “I don’t see you killing people.”

Yifan cups his face as he smiles, “What would you know?” His jaw hardens next and his gaze drops to the countertop. “I had the most motive, didn’t I?”

Junmyeon bites down on his lip and his fingers tighten their grip around the marker. He comes closer and splays his hands on the counter. He says, his voice soft and careful, “You wouldn’t, you are not terrible like that. I _know_ you wouldn’t hurt anyone. And your motive would be more realistic if I was floating in the river, no? Even then…” Junmyeon chuckles and tries to scold his heart to behave, to not beat so loudly that Yifan might hear it.

Yifan looks up to find Junmyeon frowning down at the counter. He wants to reach out and smooth out the furrow in between his eyes. He wants to say that no matter what, he wouldn’t dream of hurting Junmyeon like that. But right then, the kettle whistles and Yifan heads over to the stove. He asks, “What sort of tea would you like?”

“Anything you got is fine with me,” Junmyeon shrugs and goes back to his board.

Suddenly, a rapping noise on the window startles them and they look towards the backdoor to find Zitao peering at them, his face tense. Junmyeon opens the door for him and as soon as he steps in, he says, “So, did you two by chance go visit a mister and misses Gong this afternoon?”

Junmyeon looks over his shoulder and Yifan shrugs, “Why?”

Zitao crosses his arms and takes turn to glare at Junmyeon and then at Yifan, “Mister Gong Minki shot himself this afternoon after confessing to his wife about his affair with an orderly at the Hunter’s Lodge.”

Junmyeon widens his eyes and murmurs under his breath, “So, that is what Sehun was blackmailing mister Gong about…” But then, his shoulders sag and he leans against the counter. He looks at Zitao and says, “I am sorry, I didn’t think…” He hiccups and feels the guilt rising in his gut, choking his throat and threatening to spill through his eyes. He feels arms wrap around him from the back and Junmyeon doesn’t need to turn around to know it is Yifan.

Yifan wraps his arms around Junmyeon’s slightly trembling shoulders and says, “It is not your fault.”

Zitao nods, “It isn’t. I just wanted to inform you since misses Gong took your names. My DI will come knocking—you know how he is.”

Junmyeon nods and Yifan tightens his hands around him. Zitao bids them goodbye and Yifan squeezes Junmyeon once and let’s go of him. Junmyeon almost protests at that, but shuts up. He scrubs his face and hears Yifan say, “You can take the guest room if you want.”

Junmyeon doesn’t protest to that.

 

Yifan is nowhere to be seen when Junmyeon wakes up the next morning, but that was to be expected. However, Yifan leaves breakfast and a steaming cup of green tea on the counter for him. Junmyeon likes to think that Yifan cares despite whatever he might think, and that is enough for him. He is sipping his soup as he thinks of what he can do today when Yixing calls. The man says, as soon as Junmyeon picks the phone up, “Hey, I think I saw the lights in the guest room on last night?” Yixing lives opposite to them. “Please tell me that was you.”

Junmyeon chuckles, “Yes, it was me.”

Yixing sighs in relief. “You won’t believe the crap I am hearing ever since the wedding…”

“Let me guess,” Junmyeon says, his voice dripping with acid, “Eligible bachelor Wu Yifan is back on the market?”

“Hey, Minseok is still in the running for that too!” Junmyeon rolls his eyes but grins anyway. “Yeah, I have heard some old ladies talk. But, anyway! That is not why I called you, can you come help me organise the food and refreshments for the party at the town hall today?”

“Oh, the party for the anniversary of the town, right,” Junmyeon exhales and rubs the bridge of his nose. “Hold on, I will be there in a few.”

Dressed in a soft pink sweatshirt and cropped dark denims paired with his Gucci white sneakers, Junmyeon heads out. He takes his cycle and reaches the centre of the town under twenty minutes. He finds plenty of people already milling about—he spots Minseok, Jeno, Jongdae, even the two newcomers Jongin and Luhan are there. Junmyeon parks his cycle and takes a moment to look at the two new men.

Luhan is a tired city man like him—the former senior copywriter was the first to respond when Junmyeon put his cottage on sale one month ago. Luhan is a year older than him and now works from home, still taking the odd trip to Seoul when required. He is fit and of medium height with a clear complexion and his dark hair looks healthy. Kim Jongin on the other hand is much younger and doesn’t look any older than twenty-eight. He teaches dance to the kids at the school and has become a hot favourite with the kids and their moms, which is understandable since he is tall, built like a Greek god and has beautiful, sun-kissed skin. Though, those mothers would have to be disappointed since Junmyeon can see how Minseok and Jongin are flirting with each other. He smirks, can Kim Jongin finally be the one to steal the heart of the largest landowner of this town, Kim Minseok?

He walks inside and Jeno runs towards him for a hug. Junmyeon indulges and Jongdae strolls over with an armful of flowers. He says, “Luhan is helping us with the flower arrangements. Who knew he was so talented?”

Junmyeon stands up and when his gaze lands on Luhan, he has to bite back his laughter when he sees how Minseok has now taken to flirting with Luhan. He says, “So, who do you think will get the most dances with Kim Minseok tonight? Luhan or Kim Jongin?”

Jongdae hums as he glances over. “My money is on Jongin.”

Junmyeon narrows his eyes. “Hmm, I think Luhan.”

Yixing spots Junmyeon and calls him over to his small desk. Yixing is dressed in a lilac shirt and Junmyeon grins, “Nice shirt, guess Taekwoon does have taste.”

“Shut up,” Yixing blushes as he tugs his collar. “How did you know that Taekwoon gave it to me?”

Junmyeon chuckles, “Judging by the amount of purple coloured flowers your husband has planted all around the chapel, it wasn’t that hard a guess. Also, I have never seen that shirt before, and it looks new.”

Yixing blinks, a bit surprised even after all this time spent with Junmyeon. A slow smile breaks across his face and he says, “Our very own Sherlock Holmes.”

Junmyeon clicks his tongue and shakes his head. “Right, if I was, I would have found Sehun’s murderer yesterday.”

Yixing reaches for Junmyeon’s hand across the table and grabs it. “How are you holding up? With Yifan…and with Sehun,” Yixing coughs a little, “I mean…”

Junmyeon smiles and Yixing notes how sad he looks as he says, “No, I know what you mean. Sehun,” he sighs, “Was my past that I thought I had buried and it was to be forgotten. I just never told Yifan everything about Sehun’s disappearance because I genuinely thought that that part of my past was never going to return, but I was wrong.”

Yixing pats Junmyeon hands and hands him a list, “Well, I hope this works as a distraction. Help me with the alcohol budget, please!”

Junmyeon takes list and smiles, “Gladly.”

 

A few hours later, Junmyeon returns to the town hall having changed his outfit for the very social event. He swapped his pink sweatshirt for a black dress shirt and his denims for military green slacks with only a tan belt as an accessory. Did he wear black because Yifan said he looks sexy in black? Maybe, maybe not.

He finds Yifan dressed in a white shirt and simple blue pants and it shouldn’t affect Junmyeon very much, but it does anyway. Their eyes meet across the hall and it gives Junmyeon much satisfaction when Yifan rakes his gaze over Junmyeon and swallows. Guess Yifan still thinks Junmyeon is hot as fuck in black then. Junmyeon waves at Yifan, who only gives him a small, tight smile in response.

Jongdae enters the hall with Jeno and Junmyeon beckons them over. The father-son duo join Junmyeon at a table and Junmyeon instantly starts whining, “Why is Yifan looking so hot tonight?”

Jongdae looks over the crowd, trying to find Yifan, but he finds something more. He points at the man and says, “Uh, I suppose Luhan thinks the same.”

Junmyeon whips his head around so fast that Jeno swear he hears bones cracking. Junmyeon zeroes in on Luhan smiling up at his former fiancé and the jealousy flares inside him. Then, he is astonished when Minseok shows up with Jongin and the four men head towards the dance floor. Jongdae whistles beside him and shakes his head, “Didn’t think Yifan would move that fast…”

Junmyeon grumbles under his breath, “I am going to murder Luhan…”

Jeno shakes his head, “Uncle Jun, that is not a nice thing to say.”

DC Huang Zitao ambles up to them and flops down on the last seat. He too finds his gaze attracted by the four men dancing on the floor. “Wow,” he comments, “Looks like the newcomers have their sights fixed on the eligible bachelors.” Junmyeon coughs loudly and Zitao flushes, “I mean, not Yifan obviously.”

Jongdae turns to Zitao and he feels his face warming up as he says, “Uh, Zitao, would you like to, uh, dance with me?”

Jeno and Junmyeon share a look and find themselves not breathing, anticipating Zitao’s answer. Jongdae has had a crush on Zitao for ages and the detective’s side is unknown, but Jeno and Junmyeon are always rooting for Jongdae. The detective has turned a very dark shade of pink as he nods his head. Jongdae obviously was expecting to be rejected, so he stammers, “Uh, okay, I, huh.”

Jeno jumps down from his seat, determined to save his father’s blushing ass, and grabs Jongdae’s arm and drags him up. Then does the same to Zitao and grins, “Have fun!” The adults start blushing even more now and Junmyeon has to stop his giggles from escaping.

Jeno watches his dad and Zitao lace their fingers and walk into the small crowd on the dance floor and smiles, feeling very proud. He doesn’t remember his mother very well and neither has he ever felt the need for one because his dad has been enough, but he does want his dad to be happy and his dad does smile a lot whenever Zitao is around or whenever he is talking about the policeman. He returns to his seat and Junmyeon ruffles his hair with a grin, “I really hope Zitao mans up and asks your dad out.”

Jeno claps his hands and nods, “I like uncle Zitao, he makes dad smile!”

Junmyeon smiles at the innocence of the child. Yifan makes—made—him smile too, and now, Junmyeon glances at the people on the dance floor, Yifan is smiling down at Jongin. What the fuck.

Jeno leaves his seat when he spots some of his school friends in the hall, leaving Junmyeon alone, glaring at Jongin and plotting his demise. Perhaps Yifan could feel the hate Junmyeon was sending telepathically, because in the next moment, Yifan leaves Jongin and walks over to the drinks table. To Junmyeon’s delight, he finds Yixing stare at Yifan icily before handing him a beer. Meanwhile, Jongin is joined by Minseok on the floor, leaving Luhan looking a little lost and gloomy. Serves him right, Junmyeon thinks as he gnashes his teeth.

Yifan strolls over to Junmyeon’s table with the drink and says, “Did you know Yixing is serving warm beer?”

Junmyeon knows Yixing isn’t, so he grins, “No, I don’t think so.” He looks over at Yixing, who sends him a wink, Junmyeon chuckles. Yifan too looks over his shoulder and finds Yixing glaring at him. He sighs as he takes Zitao’s seat, “I get it, I am now Yixing’s enemy number one, eh?”

“I will tell him to stop,” Junmyeon says, feeling sheepish.

Yifan sighs. “It’s okay. I suppose he is doing this out of his affection for you.”

“And to think I accused him and his husband of murder all those months ago.” Junmyeon reminisces. He had been living in this town for five and a half months when a woman’s body was found in the chapel. Suspicion came resting first on Taekwoon, who knew the woman and wouldn’t say how they were connected. Next, the suspect was Yixing who told Junmyeon that perhaps his husband was having an affair. It wasn’t an affair, but the woman was connected to Taekwoon’s past as an underground fighter that he was desperately trying to hide from Yixing. The killer was the woman’s ex-husband but the case brought Junmyeon and Yixing closer, and made Taekwoon fall in love with Yixing all over again when Yixing said he didn’t care about the past.

The past—such a messy thing when it remains unsolved, Junmyeon muses. Yifan chuckles, “But it was alright. Even though, to think about someone as gentle and quiet as Taekwoon as a fighter was shocking. I have known him for years and I didn’t even know. It just goes to say you never truly know someone.” At the last sentence, Yifan looks up and directly at Junmyeon, who swallows.

Junmyeon tears his gaze away and ponders over the last sentence, and as he does so, his eyes land on Jongin reduced to giggles in Minseok’s arms. Despite the height difference, Jongin has curved himself into Minseok’s embrace and Minseok honestly looks a bit affected, what with the dreamy smile, crooked smile aimed at the man in his arms. Suddenly, it hits Junmyeon. He straightens up and says, “You know, the people that we really don’t know anything about?” Yifan raises an eyebrow, “Jongin and Luhan!”

 

“This is a bad idea,” Yifan groans as he rubs his face, following Junmyeon down the road.

Junmyeon shakes his head, “No, no, this is a great idea. Do you have your phone?” Yifan nods. “Good.”

“But what if you are wrong?”

“Nope,” Junmyeon says, “Think about it, Jongin and Luhan came to the town around the same time and what do we know about them? Just the things they have told us! What if one of them is hiding in charming little Pocheon under false names? And why should it be a coincidence that Sehun had to die here? Maybe, Sehun recognised one of them as Qingpei! They were both at the wedding, remember?”

Yifan groans; Junmyeon’s theory sounds entirely plausible. But the prospect of breaking into their houses doesn’t seem the best of ideas. They come at a crossroad and Junmyeon says, “Okay, call me as soon as you find something!”

Junmyeon walks down one end, heading towards his former cottage while Yifan makes his way towards Jongin’s house. Yifan bites his lip and hangs his head, taking a few deep breaths. He has never gone breaking and entering into other’s people’s home. And Jongin seemed such a nice person too. It’d be terrible if he turned out to be the criminal.

As Yifan looks for a key under the doormat, he sighs again. The things you do for love—this is crazy, he knows, but when has he ever said no to any insane caper Junmyeon came up with to catch the bad guys? He is briefly reminded of the time he had to pretend to be Junmyeon’s husband (this was before they were together) and then had to stage a mock fight to convince their suspects. He finds a key under a flowerpot because this is how Pocheon people work; they leave extra keys loose _everywhere_. Yifan slips inside and uses the light on his phone to navigate inside the house. He is making his way into the kitchen when Junmyeon calls. He picks it up and whispers, “What?”

Junmyeon whispers back, “Nothing. It is just weird to stand in a house that doesn’t belong to you anymore.”

Yifan frowns, “You called me to say this?”

“Sorry, just felt like sharing it.”

Yifan scream, or tries to, “Junmyeon!” But Yifan doesn’t disconnect, he pulls out his earphones and plugs them in. He drops his phone into the jacket’s pocket and keeps talking, “Anyway, did you find anything?”

Junmyeon mumbles, “Nah, Luhan keeps my house too clean.”

“It’s not your house,” Yifan chuckles.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

Yifan was shuffling through some envelopes on a table in the living room when he finds a bill. He whisper-shouts when he reads the name on it, “Junmyeon!”

“What?”

“You were right!”

A beat of silence passes before Junmyeon says, excited, “Jongin is actually Qingpei?”

“Well, it doesn’t say so, but I found a bill under the name Kim Kai!”

Junmyeon gasps, “That could be just another false name!”

Outside, as Junmyeon and Yifan have their hushed conversation, Minseok is walking Jongin back to his home. They are laughing and they have their arms wrapped around each other. Minseok is on cloud nine, he really likes Jongin, and his beautiful smile and his soft, shy voice. The whole evening, he hadn’t been able to stay away from him, and he genuinely thought that perhaps they had something, a spark. Minseok knows he felt it, but did Jongin? When they are close to Jongin’s house, Minseok turns him around and asks, tentatively, “Hey, can I kiss you?”

Jongin’s cheeks redden slightly before he nods his head. Minseok doesn’t wait to cup Jongin’s face and pull him down to press his lips against his. His plush lips are as soft as Minseok imagined, and he sighs when Jongin kisses back. The kiss is tender, their lips move slowly, trying each other out and Minseok feels his heart fluttering. When they pull back, Minseok kisses Jongin’s chin and smiles up at him, “You are so cute.”

Jongin giggles but then he looks over Minseok’s head and his eyes widen when he sees a light moving in his house. He points at his house and his voice shakes as he says, “There is someone in my house Minseok.”

Minseok turns around and he too sees the light in Jongin’s house. He squeezes Jongin’s forearm and says, “You stay here.” Then, he takes off running towards Jongin’s house. He finds the main door ajar and the sound of his footsteps hitting the front step alerts whoever it is since Minseok hears scuffling noises.

Yifan did hear the door opening and someone stepping inside. He whispers to Junmyeon, “Shit, someone’s home!” He takes off immediately, bumping into furniture and carpets as he tries to locate the backdoor. Inside his head, he keeps cursing Junmyeon and his capabilities to convince Yifan into doing stupid things.

Yifan escapes through the backdoor but he can hear whoever is chasing shout for him to stop but as if Yifan is going to listen to him. If he’s caught, he can see Park Chanyeol’s gloating face inside his head already. He tears through the backyard and jumps over the fence. His body complains but he doesn’t pay any attention. He jumps down from the fence and right into something wet and he realises he stepped into a kiddie pool. Meanwhile, Junmyeon is shouting into the earphones, “Yifan! What is going on?”

His chaser is still onto him and Yifan kicks through some squeaky toy, fights with some sheets set out to dry and keeps running. His chaser too steps on those toys and Yifan closes his eyes for second before finding the backyard gate of the house he stepped into. He opens the gate and finds a narrow stretch of road and runs down it. However, he feels tired after some time and his chaser too is out of breath, and when he halts under a lamppost, trying to catch his breath, he finds his chaser to be none other than his best friend.

Minseok comes up behind the burglar and he is surprised when he sees he knows the burglar pretty well, he cries, “Yifan? What the fuck?”

Yifan pants, “I can explain.”

Junmyeon, who is still on call, asks, “Yifan, what the hell?”

Yifan tells Junmyeon to come meet him in front of Jongin’s house and he tells Minseok everything as they make their way back to the house as well. Minseok, who just kissed Jongin a few minutes ago, feels all his hopes and dreams crushing when he hears what Yifan has to say. Deep in his heart, he wants to believe that he didn’t just kiss a murderer.

Junmyeon finds them halfway and comes running towards them. He instantly crowds Yifan, cupping his face as he asks, “Are you okay?”

Yifan nods his head and smiles, “I am fine. You?”

Junmyeon smiles back, his shoulders sagging in relief. Minseok watches them and smirks—he can bet they will find their way back to each other sooner than later. However, Junmyeon and Yifan’s moment gets interrupted when they hear a loud thudding noise. They race over to Jongin’s place and find the man putting a duffle bag into the car’s boot. Junmyeon shouts, “Where do you think you are going Gu Qingpei!”

Jongin throws Junmyeon a confused look as he walks around to the driver’s side. Yifan shakes his head, “No, more like, why did you lie to us about your name? You aren’t Kim Jongin.”

Jongin’s eyes widen and he looks at Minseok first. His gaze softens a little but his lips tremble, tears threatening to spill down his eyes as he shakes his head. “Please, I need to go. If he finds me here, I am dead.” He doesn’t provide any explanation before he gets inside the car and drives off.

“Jongin!”

“Gu Qingpei!”

“Kim Kai!”

Minseok, Junmyeon and Yifan call for the man but he doesn’t stop. Junmyeon huffs and puts his hands on his hips, “I noted the car plate number. I will send it to Zitao, the cops will get him.”

Minseok groans and squats down on the road, rubbing his face. “The one man I really like turns out to be a killer!”

Yifan and Junmyeon share a look and glance down at Minseok, feeling pitiful. Yifan just pats his friend’s back in sympathy.


	5. Come On Baby, Light My Fire

The three of them reconvene in Yifan’s house where Junmyeon calls Zitao to tell him about Jongin and his fake name. Zitao assures them that he will catch Jongin as soon as he can. Minseok leaves them, refusing an offer of some good scotch and Junmyeon almost feels bad about them discovering Jongin’s true identity. Yuri calls again and tells Junmyeon that Qinpei has no records at all, something that they knew already, but then she says, “About him and Sehun, you were right, they were working together. The fake organisation con was a two man job.” Someone shouts for Yuri in the background and she giggles, “Okay, got to go, my girlfriend is knee deep in tequila shots. Bye!”

The call is disconnected and Yifan scoffs as he sinks into the sofa, “Imagine Jongin’s shock then, when he sees Sehun at the wedding, the one person who could identify him. What are the chances of that?”

Junmyeon picks up the wine bottle and pours himself another drink (he is already one drink down) as he says, “But don’t you think chance governs the world? Whether you are here or not? Who we fall in love with?” He pulls one leg up and looks into the fireplace where a fire gently smoulders, “I mean, what are the chances of you and me sitting here right now? Think about it, what if my parents hadn’t met, or your parents hadn’t.” He hadn’t had much to drink this evening, but his tongue feels loose and the cozy atmosphere right now makes things easier to say. “And if their parents hadn’t met. And all these chance meetings had ended up here, right now, with us.”

Yifan tilts his head to the side, his gaze softening. Junmyeon puts his hand on the back of the sofa and presses his fingers into his temple as he sighs, “I am so sorry, I didn’t sort out my first marriage properly, and I put you through that.”

Yifan swallows, his heart twisting into knots when he sees the pain and sincerity in Junmyeon’s eyes. He understands that this has been harder for Junmyeon than it has been for him and perhaps, Minseok was right. He whispers, “Thank you.”

“Sehun was so long ago that sometimes it felt like it didn’t happen, that he never existed, and,” Junmyeon looks at Yifan, a small smile curving his lips as he continues, “And I felt like I didn’t exist till I met you.”

No one says anything after that and the only sound in the room is of the wood crackling in the fire. Yifan finally breaks it by saying, “Kiss me, please.”

Junmyeon’s smile get wider as he gets on his knees and makes his way across to Yifan, who welcomes him with open arms. Junmyeon takes a moment, to take in the exaltation in Yifan’s eyes as the latter wraps his arms around Junmyeon’s waist, before tilting his head to the side and slotting his lips against Yifan’s.

As soon as Junmyeon presses against Yifan’s lips, the latter sighs, his heart aches in remembrance of how much he missed this. He pulls Junmyeon in his lap and the other giggles before moving to straddle him properly. Yifan holds Junmyeon in place as Junmyeon returns to kiss him again and it is perfect. His lips are soft and when Yifan licks along its seam, he tastes sweet like the wine he has been drinking.

Junmyeon mewls as he parts his lips, his entire being screaming in joy at being able to hold Yifan like this. He cups Yifan’s jaw and the kiss gets more frenzied, more impatient like they can’t control themselves. Yifan’s hands trail lower and lower till they are splayed on the curve of Junmyeon’s ass. He subsequently squeezes the supple flesh and Junmyeon groans.

Junmyeon pulls back from the kiss first and Yifan’s breath staggers at the bruised lips and flushed cheeks. Yifan rubs his thumb over Junmyeon’s lips and the latter whimpers, and Yifan wonders how he could stay away from all this for so long. He needs Junmyeon so, so much. His thumb comes resting on Junmyeon’s lower lip and Junmyeon parts his mouth, flicking his tongue over the pad of Yifan’s thumb.

Junmyeon starts sucking on Yifan’s thumb, he feels the desire he feels for Yifan roar up inside him, and he knows Yifan feels the same because his breath falls harsher and his pupils dilate. Junmyeon unbuttons the first few buttons on Yifan’s shirt and releases the thumb from his mouth. He latches his mouth on Yifan’s skin and starts leaving a trail of kisses and nips along the long column of his neck.

Yifan moans when he feels Junmyeon’s teeth scrape along his Adam’s apple. His hands fall back on Junmyeon’s backside, now trailing under Junmyeon’s shirt that has somehow gotten unstuck sometime. Yifan tugs at Junmyeon’s hair, wanting to taste those lips again and Junmyeon obliges. Their lips mesh together and Yifan tears a moan out of Junmyeon when his tongue brushes along the sensitive roof of his mouth.

Junmyeon feels his blood rushing south and his pants feel a tad bit too tight. He has been mighty starved for the last few days, so, excuse me, he needs this. He rolls his hips and Yifan moans into the kiss immediately. Yifan thrusts his hips up and Junmyeon crows in his head to learn that he is just as aroused.

The kiss gets messier and their bodies move against each other like a bunch of hormonal high school kids before Yifan decides that he has had enough, and moves his hand down towards Junmyeon’s zip. That is also when he notices the temperature of the room—it feels too hot, abnormally so. He tells Junmyeon, who is kissing down his neck again as he says, “Of course it is getting hot in here.”

Junmyeon pulls back, grinning down at Yifan when he sees it—smoke coming out from underneath the door. They had been in the living room, door closed and then it hits Junmyeon, “I think, the foyer in on fire.”

Yifan looks back and they both get down from the sofa. Since they are no longer busy making out, Junmyeon hears voices calling out for him and Yifan. Yifan rushes forward and opens the door to find their entire foyer lit up, the blaze consuming the curtains and the tablecloth, and the shoe rack. Smoke fills his eyes and he coughs. He feels Junmyeon tugging him back and it is Junmyeon who realises they are people knocking on their door. Through the glass panels beside the door, Junmyeon recognises Yixing, Taekwoon and Luhan screaming at them, their eyes widened in fear.

Yifan grabs Junmyeon’s hand next and they run towards the kitchen. Yifan opens the backdoor and drags Junmyeon out into the night air with him. The cool breeze hits their face and Junmyeon falls to his knees, his eyes wet and his lips tremble as he says, “Someone, do you think someone set fire to our house?” Yifan frowns but he drops down beside Junmyeon and pulls him into his arms. He can’t tell, but he feels angry just thinking that someone might have tried to hurt them.

The sounds of siren fill the night and Yixing shouts when he finds them huddled in the garden, “They are here!”

Roughly an hour later, the firemen have doused the flames successfully and the damage has been limited to the foyer alone. They are sealing it off and Yifan is talking to them. Meanwhile, Yixing wraps a blanket around Junmyeon’s shoulder and Luhan hands him a cup of tea. Junmyeon asks, “What happened?”

Yixing looks grim as he says, “I looked outside and saw the fire and ran out of the house. I shouted for you two but you couldn’t hear me.”

Junmyeon feels his face heating up when he realises exactly _why_ he, or Yifan, heard nothing. Luhan nods along, adding, “I looked out when I heard this car screeching off, and saw Yixing running down to your house.”

“You saw a car?” Junmyeon asks, perking up.

Luhan nods, “It was parked, I think,” he looks back, “That way. It was so loud that it surprised me.”

“Did you see what colour it was?”

“Yeah, blue.” Junmyeon gasps, Jongin’s car was blue.

Yifan walks up to them and Junmyeon doesn’t even need to ask the question on the tip of his tongue before the former says, “The firemen say that it was arson, they found traces of gasoline.”

Junmyeon takes a deep breath and claps his hand over his mouth, trying to stop the frustrated scream from escaping. Yifan quickly pulls him into his arms and kisses the top of his head, trying to soothe him. Yixing looks at them for a second before saying, “You two come stay with us.” Yifan looks like he is about to refuse, but Yixing is adamant, “Don’t even try with me.”

 

Next morning, Junmyeon wakes up to find himself tucked under Yifan’s chin. The warmth is comfortable, the way Yifan holds on to him in his sleep feels amazing and Junmyeon never wants to leave the bed. But as he watches Yifan’s peaceful sleeping face, Junmyeon feels terrible.

Not only did he had to deal with Sehun’s return and death, he also had to deal with gun-trotting old people, a suicide, and then someone tried to kill him and Yifan. He needs to find Jongin and he needs to find him now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the chapter title is a Doors song


	6. A Honeymoon For Two

Junmyeon has dragged Jongdae with him to Seoul and along with Yuri, they return to Sehun’s apartment. Baekhyun opens the door for them this time as well and he glances between Junmyeon and Jongdae before asking, “Which one of you is the husband?” Yuri had informed Baekhyun beforehand that Sehun’s former husband was coming to take his things away. Baekhyun had complained before that someone needs to clear Sehun’s things out since he is now looking for a new roommate. He had threatened to throw everything away when Junmyeon suggested they should see Sehun’s belongings for themselves, if they manage to find something.

Junmyeon raises his hand and Baekhyun leans in closer, a lecherous grin in place as he says, “Cute.” Yuri clears her throat and Baekhyun leans back and points them towards Sehun’s bedroom. “He kept his room clean, so you would find everything you need to be already in place.”

Junmyeon enters Sehun’s room and the neatness shocks him, but then he spots a row of empty bottles of soju lining a wall. Jongdae tuts and grabs all the files and folders he sees on a tiny shelf into the duffle bag they were carrying. They clear out the rest of the room within minutes and politely refuse Baekhyun’s offer for tea (he was now grinning not-so-pleasantly at Jongdae).

They head to Yuri’s place and sift through the things they got back from Sehun’s apartment. Yuri finds a stack of newspaper cuttings, and she grins, “Looks like Sehun kept a close eye on you.”

Junmyeon takes them and sees they are all about him, starting from the very first win he scored in the world of public relations. His heart clenches and he bites down on his lip as he understands that Sehun knew all about Junmyeon yet Junmyeon knew nothing about Sehun. Yuri even finds a photograph of the day Sehun and Junmyeon got married, and Jongdae snatches it before Junmyeon can see it.

Jongdae coos, “Aw, look at you two! How young, how innocent!”

Junmyeon snatches it back from Jongdae and smiles down at the image. They were both eighteen and so ecstatic, in love and terribly stupid. Sehun didn’t pass his college entrance exams for two consecutive years and that drove him to drinking, thanks to the awful company he started to keep. When one argument later, Sehun stepped out of their tiny apartment years ago, he never returned. Junmyeon tried to be happy, thinking love was enough, but it never was. He looks at his own face, so bright, so optimistic and he sees how handsome Sehun too looked that day. A lone tear runs down his cheek and Yuri wraps her arms around him, murmuring, “There, there.”

Suddenly, Jongdae yelps, “Gu Qingpei!”

Junmyeon gets startled and Yuri lets him go as they both turn to Jongdae who is holding a photograph of two men in front of a huge house. They both have dyed their hair blond and it takes Junmyeon a second but he recognises them both. His eyes widen as he realises that he had the wrong Qingpei the whole time.

 

Jongin, or Kim Kai, or Gu Qingpei sits in front of DI Park Chanyeol and DC Huang Zitao, chewing on his bottom lip. Chanyeol leans forward and narrows his eyes; they had caught Jongin just in time, the culprit was headed for Incheon. Chanyeol says, his voice low and serious, “Why were you running Mister Gu Qingpei?”

Jongin grimaces and clasps his fingers on his lap. “Please, I don’t know what you are talking about.

Chanyeol’s voice booms as he says, “Are you saying you are not Gu Qingpei?”

Jongin frowns, looking very confused as he shakes his head, “No, no, I don’t know who that is even.”

Zitao puts a hand on Chanyeol’s forearm to quiet the hyper detective. Chanyeol’s nature doesn’t help when they are interrogating suspects who look like frightened rabbits. Zitao asks, his voice much more pleasant and quieter, “Then, why did you come to Pocheon under a false name?”

Jongin shakes his head and his lips tremble as he says, “I, I am running from my abusive ex-husband. I have filed for a restraining order, but he took to stalking me when I lived in Seoul. I thought if I changed my name and came here, he wouldn’t find me. But then I saw the light in my house yesterday and I freaked out, thinking he had found me again.”

Chanyeol and Zitao share a look, they know if they try to find out, Jongin’s story will clear out. And Jongin wouldn’t lie since he knows the cops will find the truth behind his name anyway. Now, the question remains, who the hell is Gu Qingpei?

 

Yifan woke up to an empty bed and a sleepy Hopkins licking his face, and he just laid there for some time, remembering the night before as he pulled Junmyeon into his arms and probably had the best sleep in the last few days. He wondered where Junmyeon went and when he asked Yixing, the man supplied that Junmyeon had gone down to Seoul with Jongdae. That also explained why Jongdae’s son, Jeno was in the kitchen grinning up at him. Yifan gave the kid a smile back and decided to head over to his land for the day, to take stock of the work that has happened during his absence.

By noon, Yifan still has no news of Junmyeon and what he is up to and it is worrisome. He sincerely hopes Junmyeon doesn’t get into any sort of trouble. He knows Junmyeon has Jongdae with him, and possibly Yuri too, but it doesn’t ease his worries. He decides to head to the local pub for some beer and food instead and try to call Junmyeon again.

He takes a seat at the counter, scrolling through his phone, reading through the last few frantic messages he sent Junmyeon that the other hasn’t even read. He tries not to think of terrible things. He tries to think that Junmyeon is safe, unharmed and not kidnapped or tied up somewhere. But it is hard to do so, especially when he knows about Junmyeon’s proclivity to get himself into trouble.

“Yifan?” someone calls and Yifan turns around to find Luhan smiling at him. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, just grabbing some lunch,” Yifan smiles back.

Luhan grins, “Hey, if you need lunch, you can come over. I made enough noodles last night to feed a family of five.” Yifan gets to his feet, about to refuse but Luhan doesn’t let him, “Come on, let me be nice to you. Junmyeon and you had a tough night yesterday.”

Luhan aims his best wide-eyed gaze at Yifan and Yifan crumbles—he really hates the food here, he could do with some homemade food. And Luhan is just being a good neighbour. He agrees, “Alright, then.”

He follows Luhan home, who is talking about his volunteer work at the horse stables today. Yifan notes he is wearing an overall, caked with mud, and it is probably borrowed since it looks two sizes too big for him. They enter Luhan’s home and it feels strange to step inside the cottage that once belonged to Junmyeon. The place looks the same yet feels different. No quirky decorations, no giant moot board propped in the kitchen, no Hopkins. Luhan’s tastes are simpler, more utilitarian.

Luhan plops a dish in the microwave and says, “Let me go change out of this, I will be right back!”

Yifan was about to comment that he doesn’t care, and wonders if Luhan is trying to hit on him or not. But then again the whole town is saying he and Junmyeon are over, and he wants to tell them, they are not. Not really.

Luhan disappears upstairs and Yifan decides to be a nice guest. He opens the drawer that he knew Junmyeon kept his cutlery in and finds it filled with paper and other miscellaneous items. He shouts, “Luhan? Where do you keep your spoons? I can’t find them.”

Luhan shouts back, “By the sink!”

Yifan is about to close the drawer when his eyes land on an old photograph peeking behind an old electricity bill. He pulls it out and frowns down at the two blond men in it—they both look extremely familiar. Yifan peers closer and scowls, he is sure he is looking at a photograph of Sehun and Luhan together, smiling up at him.

Yifan hand shakes as he turns the photograph around and sees someone has written _Qingpei and Sehun, Incheon, 2016_ on the back. Footsteps are heard coming down the stairs and Yifan looks up to find Luhan coming down, his overalls replaced with a red sweater. Luhan grins, “Did you find them?” His grin disappears when he realises what Yifan is holding in his hand. Yifan watches as Luhan’s face becomes impassive and his eyes lose their usual brightness. He puts his hands on his hips and says, “I see you found it.”

“So,” Yifan swallows, “You are Gu Qingpei.”

Luhan shrugs, “Just another false name. Luhan is the real name though.”

Yifan waves a hand around the place, “Did you buy this place because you knew about Junmyeon and Sehun?”

Luhan chuckles, “No, that was a coincidence!” Then, his face scrunches in a deep scowl. “And it cost me, didn’t it? Sehun came to me for money as well.”

“So, you two got into a fight after you saw Junmyeon push him.”

Luhan shakes his head. “I didn’t know it was him when I saw Junmyeon fighting with him. I went down and Sehun came to his senses. He started demanding money the moment he saw me, and said if I didn’t pay, he would tell everyone about what we used to do.”

Yifan swallows when he realises another thing. "You tried to set me and Junmyeon on fire too."

Luhan nods, crossing his arms. "If only the vicar and his husband didn't intervene..."

Yifan takes a step to his left, circling the counter and glances towards the door. Luhan realises what Yifan is doing and immediately grabs a vase behind him. He hits Yifan on his head with it and Yifan slumps down with a loud thud on the wooden floor. Luhan bites his lip and groans, “Seriously…”

Luhan takes a deep breath and rubs his face. Here he goes again. Killing Sehun wasn’t that hard since he was kind of drunk anyway, but Yifan would be a bit hard to take care of, but he can try. So, he grabs Yifan by his wrists and drags him across the floor to his backdoor where his wheelbarrow is placed. He got that thing purely for gardening purposes—he also got shovels for that purpose.

He carries Yifan into the backyard and to his relief, all his neighbours are out at work, so he can relatively work in peace. He looks at Yifan, who is still knocked out and doesn’t look he will be coming back to land of the conscious any sooner. Luhan grabs a shovel and starts digging. Live burial it has to be then.

Luhan played football all through his academic life, so he is strong and digging a hole is no big deal. He could have even made into the national levels if he had tried. But life’s a bitch and we don’t always get what we want. He had just started fooling rich, married, lonely women and men out of their money when he met Sehun. There was never anything romantic between them, they just had the need for money and for making it quickly. Sehun came up with the rehab idea, he had been in a few himself and he knew how loose people got with their secrets inside them. Luhan worked on a separate con on the side as well, just so they can put Sehun into more expensive rehabs where secrets can pay a great deal.

Sehun slipped, started drinking and gambling seriously again, so Luhan cut his losses. Sehun fell through the cracks and Luhan didn’t care enough about finding him. Then, suddenly, Sehun showed up here, and Luhan panicked. He just wanted some peace and quiet, but no.

The hole is now at his waist and Luhan thinks this is deep enough. He scrambles out of it and pushes the barrow towards the hole. He nudges Yifan into it and starts shovelling dirt over him. However, he suddenly hears sirens. He quickens his pace and Yifan is covered entirely before he hears someone shouts, “Luhan, stop! You are under arrest!”

Luhan turns around just in time to see DI Park Chanyeol jump over the fence and then fall on his face in the flowerbeds. Luhan drops the shovel and is about to take off in a run when DC Huang shows up from the side and tackles him down on the ground. Luhan just groans in defeat as Zitao’s knee presses into his lower back. _Fuck you Oh Sehun._

 

A couple of days later, Yifan is discharged from the hospital and he is packing his things when the door opens to Junmyeon, who says, “I have been told to drag you back in if your head feels funny.”

Yifan groans, “I am okay.”

“You got hit on your head.”

“The concussion’s fine,” Yifan pouts. “Really.”

Junmyeon takes a deep breath and looks down at his feet. He doesn’t know where he stands with Yifan anymore now that the case is over. Two days ago, he had called Zitao and told him about Luhan being Qingpei. A quick questioning had revealed that Luhan was last seen at the stables and then at the pub with Yifan. Junmyeon had almost dropped his phone in fear but instead screamed at Zitao to go find Luhan right now since he was sure the man would try to hurt Yifan. And his worst fears came true when Zitao called him back to say that Yifan was found unconscious in a freshly dug pit. Junmyeon almost started crying.

He had stayed beside Yifan for the last two nights, and only went home when Jongdae and Yixing came to physically drag him away. He claps his hands and asks, “So, where to now? I can drive you home.”

“About that,” Yifan scratches his head as he says, “I am heading to Cyprus this Sunday.”

The smile drops from Junmyeon’s face as he realises. “Alone?” Yifan nods and that is enough for Junmyeon to know that Yifan isn’t ready to forgive him yet. He sighs and takes a step back, “Okay.” He turns around, fighting the tears about to fall and rushes out of the hospital.

Meanwhile, Yifan sighs and wonders why Junmyeon didn’t say anything else.

 

It is a Sunday, and it is also the day when Yifan leaves for their honeymoon. Junmyeon tries to not think about that as he pulls his trench coat closer around him. He takes a seat in the pews and he finds Minseok and Jongin sitting together, giggling and throwing each other heart eyes. At least, someone’s happy. He also finds Zitao planting a kiss on Jongdae’s cheek with Jeno making disgusted faces at them. Wow, is everyone happy except him?

He grumbles and sinks down his seat, feeling incredibly miserable. Suddenly, a few seconds later the seats on either side of him are taken at the same time and he is startled to find Minseok and Zitao one each side. He barks, “What?”

Minseok asks, “When does Yifan’s plane leave?”

“How the fuck—”

Zitao groans and rolls his eyes, “We know you know.”

“Three in the afternoon,” Junmyeon admits, slipping down the seat some more.

Minseok checks his watch, “Thus, he would be leaving right now if he wants to get to Incheon on time.”

Junmyeon nods. Zitao says, “So, why are you here?”

Junmyeon pouts, “He wanted to go alone.”

“Bullshit,” Minseok says and crosses his arms, “Don’t give up on him.”

“Yes,” Zitao says, “As bachelors, we know what Yifan is thinking, so don’t let him convince himself that the single life is better for him.”

“As former bachelors, mind you,” Minseok clears his throat and waves at Jongin, who had turned around just in time to wave at his boyfriend. “So, why are you still here?”

Junmyeon licks his lips—his friends are right. He jumps to his feet and passes Yixing, who opens his mouth to ask why Junmyeon is rushing but then he sees Zitao and Minseok grinning, and he understands. He hopes only good things for Junmyeon and Yifan from now on.

Junmyeon drives as fast as he can and catches Yifan just in time. A cab idles in front of the house and Yifan is at the door, a trolley bag in hand. He looks up in surprise as Junmyeon gets out of his car and walks up the pathway. He stops in front of Yifan and says, lips turned down in a frown, “You know, it’s not fair that you enjoy our honeymoon all on your own!”

Yifan’s lips shake and he tries hard to not smile, but he fails anyway. Honestly, he was waiting for someone to stop him, and he was hoping that someone turned out to be Junmyeon himself. The way Junmyeon left him in the hospital couple of days ago made him feel awful, just terrible. He wanted to run after Junmyeon but his feet couldn’t move. But right now, he is relieved, otherwise he would have had to turn his cab around halfway from Incheon and beg for Junmyeon’s forgiveness this time. “I, I didn’t cancel your ticket, you know.” He looks down and his ears turn red, which makes Junmyeon smile.

Junmyeon steps closer and says, “Were you wishing I’d come?”

“Maybe?” Yifan admits as he scratches the back of his neck.

Junmyeon feels like crying, like laughing and mostly, he feels like kissing the man in front of him. “You fool,” his voice breaks, “I love you.”

Yifan steps down and puts his hands around Junmyeon’s waist, who puts his arms around Yifan’s neck. Yifan dips his head and his lips brush against Junmyeon’s as he says, “I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> helllooo!  
> Thank you for reading and enjoying this mess!!!


End file.
